Seán Moran: Sobering question for the GAA - does intercounty involvement do players more harm than good?

In the kerfuffle that surrounded last year’s decision to suspend the preseason provincial tournaments, there was much pushing and pulling. They were suspended by Central Council in September and then thrown back into the fray at the end of October.

Even by the standards of the administrative GAA’s notoriously short attention span, this was a bit of turnaround. The Gaelic Players Association, who had pushed for the suspension on grounds of player welfare, were fuming over the potential reversal but the proposal duly materialised.

Although the swift revisionist coup failed, as association president Jarlath Burns sided with the GPA, arguments were made that 2025 of all years was not the time to do this with the FRC rule changes about to be introduced and also that the loss of revenue to the provincial councils would be hard replaced.

What was interesting about this debate was how little it referenced the original purpose of the suspension – player welfare and the creation of some time off for teams.